American Idol: The Great Holiday Classics

The girls fare better than the boys on this straight-up collection of Christmas classics sung by best contenders on the first two AI seasons. Unsurprisingly, Kimberly Locke is the breakaway star of the disc with her take on "The Christmas Song," but there are also palatable performances by Tamyra Gray, Christina Christian and Kelly Clarkson. The boys — including Ryan Malcolm, who gets tacked onto the Canadian edition of the release — are less thrilling, but other than being a tad banal, they’re all perfectly tolerable. It’s not necessarily destined to become an all-time favourite, but this one won’t make you spit up your Christmas dinner as your family gathers around the hearth.